In medicine in particular, this often has a sense of one thing being placed physically over, above, or on top of another: suprarenal, located above the kidneys; suprahyoid, above the hyoid bone; supraorbital, situated above the orbit of the eye, the eye socket.

In other examples, the sense is of going beyond or transcending something, often figuratively: supramolecular, relating to or denoting structures composed of several or many molecules; supranational, having power or influence that transcends national boundaries or governments; supramundane, transcending or superior to the physical world.